INNOVATION July-August 2017

l et ter s

Response from the Climate Change Advisory Group: The APEGBC Climate Change Advisory Group (CCAG), which acts as an advisory body to APEGBC’s Council, acknowledges the Editorial Board’s policies to provide a forum for all APEGBC members to share their views, but wishes to express respectful disagreement with Mr. Nevin’s views. Mr. Nevin’s statements are at odds with the best available science on the topic. For example, a summary of climate change evidence and causes from the UK National Academy of Sciences and the Canadian Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions are just few of many credible references available to decision makers, policy makers, educators, and individuals seeking authoritative answers on climate change, and they include answers to many frequently asked questions on the topic. The CCAG encourages engineers and geoscientists to stay informed about the evolving scientific evidence on human-induced climate change as well as the potential risks and impacts related to their work. Resources: UK National Academy of Sciences, “ Climate Change Evidence and Causes ”: royalsociety.org/~/media/Royal_Society_ Content/policy/projects/climate-evidence- causes/climate-change-evidence-causes.pdf. Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions: “ Climate Insights 101 ”: pics.uvic.ca/ education/climate-insights-101. v

Your geologists have studied glaciers in the geologic record. Not long ago, North America was covered with thick ice as far south as the present-day Ohio River. Moraines, glacial till, drumlins, polished roches moutonées and scoured valleys were first noted in Europe, then in the Americas. In due course, when glacial features were familiar, geologists found evidence of ice ages millions of years before the Cenozoic, deep in geologic history. If ice ages occurred long ago, climate must have changed to get us into and out of them. Aren’t we now in a period of warming after an ice age that ended about 10,000 years ago—and another one called the Little Ice Age, from 700 to 200 years ago, which devastated agriculture and caused famine in Europe? Please, engineers, design and build for climate change, but think again before you try too hard to mitigate it. You might learn it has little to do with CO 2 in the air. —Dr. Andrew E. Nevin, P.Eng. (Geological) Surrey, BC

Think Again Before You Try Hard to Mitigate Climate Change With reference to the article “Positioning APEGBC and Its Members to Respond to Climate Change” (January/February 2017), I suggest engineers and the association take some advice from your geologists before trying too hard to mitigate “climate change.” It might be bigger than traces of CO 2 . Most of the hullabaloo about global warming is driven by a small number of scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change who estimate minute changes in world-wide temperatures, on the order of 0.02°C, with an assumed error of 0.1°C. They have already revised their nomenclature from “global warming” to “climate change.” Do they understand that earth’s climate has been changing for millions of years? Since long before humans existed and before humans cleared land by burning forests, and then burned firewood, whale oil, coal, petroleum, natural gas, gasoline and diesel?

Chemical · Civil · Construction · Electrical · Environmental · Industrial · Mechanical

• EPIC courses provide CEUs/ PDHs, and are designed & taught by leading professionals with extensive experience

• EPIC’s TECHNICAL EXAM Preparation Courses will get you prepared for your Engineering Exams

Mission: Innovation As APEGBC’s official publication, Innovation aims to publish information that is of interest and relevance to the professions, is balanced, objective and impartial, affects the conduct of members, and showcases innovative engineering and geoscience work of members. A secondary aim is to provide a forum for the exchange of views among APEGBC members through the publication of letters to the editor.

FREE WEBINAR

NEGOTIATE YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS FOR DETAILS: EPICTRAINING.CA/ SUCCESS

1.877.217.5910 epictraining.ca/apegbc

6 J U LY/AU G U S T 2 017

i n n o v a t i o n